Home is wherethe Corazón is

TomParry

THOSE who passedthe Sale Showgrounds earlier this month may have noticedapeculiar site within its confines: avintage double-decker bus.

The bus in question is a1949Leyland Titan that once serviced Sydney’s public transport network; but these days,itservesboth as amobile coffee shop, and home to apairofkeen adventurers.

Lawrence “Lorie” Norton first sightedthe bus several years ago while working as ahigh-voltage glove and barrierlinesman near Griffith,New South Wales.

“I drovepast aquarry, and Ilooked downinto the quarry and saw this big old, looming, double decker bus sitting down there,” Mr Norton explained.

“I stopped the ute, and one of the guys is like… ‘What are you going to do with it?’

“And I’m like, ‘I’m going to do acharity drive around Australian in it.’”

What followed was three years of restoring the bus,fiveyears of “not wanting to lookatit” and then 18 months of finishing the fit-out in Melbourne.

The interior was stripped of its seating and repurposedasa café, complete with kitchenette, drawersand cupboards, much of which is recycled from hardrubbish collections.

Meanwhile, the top floor of the bus was transformed into aliving quarters, with an adjoining, enclosed balcony to overlook the sceneryatthe rear.

Awooden ladder connects the two decks, while abathroomfor the owners is hidden behind the kitchenette.

Mr Norton debuted the bus and his business at the Tiny House Festival in Bendigoin2019,before embarking on anationwide tour of Australia.

“I went all the way up the east coast, down through the centre -King’s Canyon, Uluru, Alice Springs- down to Adelaide, and that’s whenI blew aradiator coming out of Cooper Pedy,” Mr Norton said.

Once the bus was repaired, Mr Norton continued on, before his journey ground to ahalt again due to the onset of the pandemic.

“When COVID first hit, Iended up in the Indigenous communities up in the Kimberley, driving the school bus and as partofthat, Iran barista training for all of the high school students within the community,” he said.

“And then Iended up down in Perth…at a maximumsecurity prison as abarista trainer, which was pretty interesting.”

After startinghis journey alone,without any hospitality experience, nor formal training as a barista, Mr Nortonfoundsomebody to share his journey with in Brooke Lumsden.

“We are part of ameditation group in Melbourne, and had known each other through aWhatsApp group for afair while -Ithinktwo years,” Mr Norton said.

He was invited to operate at anotherTiny House Festival in Bendigo,but after his experiences at thefirst event, Mr Norton said, “I had a30-metre lineout thedoor.” He then realised that he needed assistance.

“So Iput the call outtothe meditation community and Iwas like,‘Does someone have café experience that they wouldn’t mind donating in pay to come and help me?’

“And Brooke reached out and said, ‘I’d love to.’”

Mr Nortondescribes meeting Ms Lumsden as the highlight of his journey, along with the other people he has encountered along the way.

“That’s definitely where it’s at for me - like, talking to everyone and finding out their experiences of life, and finding out their biggest lessons that they’velearnt in life,” he said.

It’s that same passion, and acuriosity about other people’s stories, that Ms Lumsden enjoys most.

“You never knowwho you’regoingtomeet… you can have aconversation with someone and you just never know where your day’s going to weave or where you’re going to end up next,” she said.

“We live alot in mystery.”

The refurbishedbus has beenchristened Corazón -Spanish for “heart” -and trades under the business name Twice as Nice Gallery Café.

Wherever it goes, the bus is met with friendliness and generosity.

G’day Parks and Big 4Holiday Parks have been “huge supporters” of Mr Norton’s cause, allowing him to stayatany of their parks or resorts for a discount.

And for itslocal visit,the buswas allowedto stay free of charge at the Showgrounds as part of an agreement with the Sale Show committee -a fellow non-profit organisation -for which Mr Norton expressed his gratitude.

Mostwho come to visit thebus will stayfor a coffee or, if the weather is warm, acup of homemade kombucha; others willpurchaseacrocheted cupcake, made with love by Mr Norton’s mum, or buy apaintingcrafted by Mr Norton himself with coffee waste -anidea that came to him when the bus broke down in Cooper Pedy, and ablack fluid leaked onto apiece of paper.

By selling the artworksMrNorton is, in his words, “painting my way back out of debt”.

“It’s the waste coffee that’s funding the charity drive with all of its fuel, money and everything, so that Ican do the coffee for charity, so that Ican get the waste product to paint with, so that Ican do the charity drive, and we close the loop,” Mr Norton explained.

The charity element sees profits going towards Muscular Dystrophy Australia, with an estimated $60,000 raised thus far.

Additionally, Corazónalsoservesasa monument to Sydney’s public transport history -the bus is painted the same colours as it originally wore, while the interior is adorned with aconductor’s hat and ticket dispenser,similar to that usedin decades gone by.

Mr Norton also possesses photos of the very same bus in service -heknows this because the original number plateisetchedinto the front window, and the chassis rail at the front.

“Commonwealth Engineering Co. would build a bus, and as they werebuilding it… one boilermaker was just building that bus, so he would make all of theparts to fit whatever bus it was… You couldn’t take your driver’s door off this bus and go and put it on that bus,” Mr Norton said.

Much of the history has been sourced through the SydneyBus Museum,and acollector, who generously donated many of his photos and wares to Mr Norton and Ms Lumsden.

As of such, Mr Norton is now considered a“bus nut”

“If there’s anyone out there that does have an old double-decker bus and they want to get in contact with me, Ican normally rustle-up some photos of their original bus in service and start connecting the history of the buses,” he said.

Withtheir stay in Sale having concluded, Mr Norton and Ms Lumsden plan on travelling north along the east coast of Australia, and returning to Victoria along the same route.

With the bus limited to atop speed of 45 kilometres an hour, the journey will be aslowone,and Mr Norton will go to great lengths to ensure that other motorists are not inconvenienced.

“Most of the time Ican getoff the road and get traffic past,” he said.

“If there’s asection of road that Ican’t,then I’ll either get off theroadand wait untilit’sstupido’clock in the morningand no-one else is on the road.

“Or, if Idoget stuck on asection of road, Ijust pull up and go home and have asleep -we’re home, so if traffic gets bad and we can’t get the traffic past, we’ll just hop off the road.”

Mr Nortongivesahesitant response when asked if he’lldoafullloop of the country:“I’ve done the big trips acrossthe deserts before, and at 45 kilometres an hour it’s along drive.”

He does, though, have abig-picture vision for Corazón’s future: “At some stage, Ireally want to just find somewhere with abig shed, and build a big land-basedcommunity café out of it;havesome community gardenswith somedisability access in the gardens around it, maybe abit of acamp ground, and continue to run it as acharity-based café where the profits are still going to charity, or the profits are going to people with disabilities.”

Those interested in learning more about Mr Norton and Ms Lumsden’s journey, or to donate to theircause, are encouraged to follow their handle on social media (@twiceasnicegallerycafe) or visit their official website: www.twiceasnice.com.au

Crossword Puzzle No.8522

with Muzza

ONE POINTERS

1. What product does the company Ray-Ban manufacture?

2. What is the name of the artist who won ‘Album of the Year’ at this year’sGrammy Awards?

3. Oxfordand Cambridge arefamousuniversities in which country?

4. Agambling token shares its name with which food?

TWO POINTERS

5. In the ‘Harry Potter’ novels, who is Harry’sgodfather?

6. Which flower is the national symbol of England?

7. If Iwas standing in front of the Big Banana, what state would Ibein?

8. Which poisonous plant is associated with kissing and Christmas?

THREE POINTERS

9. Hugh Jackman’scharacter In the movie ‘The Greatest Showman’, was based on what real life person?

10 Which count is used to specify quality of bed linen?

11. Cartoon character Fred Flintstone plays which sport?

12. Who is the lead singer of Led Zeppelin?

FOUR POINTERS

13. What is the legal term for telling lies under oath?

14. Classic sci-fi novel ‘The Time Machine’ was writen by which author?

FIVE POINTER

15. Name these five car logos. One point each.

Target Time No.0146

Howtoplay.

Using the nine letters in the grid, how many words of four letters or morecan you list? The centrelettermustbe included and each letter may be used only once. No colloquial or foreign words. No capitalised nouns,

Howtoplay...

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